Hitting the books: Often, when Beacon Hill lawmakers pass something unanimously, it indicates there’s little pushback against the legislation. But not this week. On Wednesday, the Massachusetts House passed a sweeping early literacy reform bill by a vote of 155-0, despite opposition from the state’s largest teacher’s union. As the legislation moves to the Senate, here’s what to know about the debate:
- The backdrop: Beacon Hill leaders said the bill is needed to combat “troubling trends” in reading. While a report earlier this yearfound that Massachusetts schoolchildren lead the nation in reading, scores still lag behind pre-pandemic levels. The latest MCAS results show that nearly 60% of students in grades 3 through 8 are not meeting English language arts expectations.
- What’s in the bill: Supporters say about a third of Massachusetts school districts are using outdated reading instruction techniques. The bill would push them to adopt “evidence-based” methods. It’s part of a larger “science of reading” movement that focuses on things like sounding out words (aka phonics), reading comprehension and fluency — as opposed to “three-cueing,” a controversial method many states are moving away from. (NPR has more here on what makes the “science of reading” different.) If passed, the House’s bill would give the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education the power to set K-3 reading curricula based on that framework. It would also require DESE to provide online materials and free training to help teachers adapt to the new methods.
- On the other hand: Max Page, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, told WBUR’s Cici Yu that his members have big concerns about limiting the tools they can use “to address the needs of a very diverse student body.” Page said some reading specialists say three-cueing — which uses photos and sentence structure to help students identify words they don’t know — can be helpful for certain kinds of learners. And he argued that the “science of reading” movement has yet to shift outcomes in every state (though some have made progress). The state’s second-largest teachers union, AFT Massachusetts, didn’t take a stance on the bill, according to its president, Jessica Tang. But it did push for several small changes, like a successful amendment to loosen a full ban on three-cueing. Page also applauded that change, but added: “We still have a real issue with having a very strict mandate on what kind of curriculum to use.”
- What’s next: Page and Tang plan to press for further changes to give individual districts more leeway, as the bill moves to the Senate. A spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka said their chamber plans to review the bill and that “members are very much engaged in improving literacy outcomes.”
Here’s why the Massachusetts Teacher Association is against a major reading reform bill:
1) Teachers would lose autonomy over curriculum
2) Oppose 3-cueing ban
3) Skeptical of Science of Reading until it works everywhere